• Your feedback is appreciated — please leave comments on any of the posts.• To find specific rock features or look up movie titles, TV shows, actors and production people, see the "LABELS" section — the long alphabetical listing on the right side of the page, below.• To join the MAILING LIST, send me an email at iversonmovieranch@gmail.com and let me know you'd like to sign up.• I've also begun a YouTube channel for Iverson Movie Ranch clips and other movie location videos, which you can get to by clicking here.• Here's a link to Garden of the Gods, the best-known section of the Iverson Movie Ranch (featured in the movie "Stagecoach," the "Lone Ranger" TV show and hundreds of other productions).• To go right to the great Iverson cinematographers, click here.

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Here's a scene starring the always fascinating Wrench Rock — sometimes called Indian Head, Upper Indian Head or Bobby — in a relatively artistic shot from the TV show "Annie Oakley." This scene appears in a 1956 episode called "Dilemma at Diablo." I love the full reflection of the rock in the pool of water.

Also visible in the shot are the Aztec on the left (next to the horse, if you can make it out) and the distinctive hill profile Two-Humper, an important Iverson marker, in the top left corner. I've highlighted the key features in the shot below.

This is the same shot, with a number of key features highlighted. I've taken the liberty to call the pool of water the "Reflecting Pool." The main features seen here are located on the South Rim of the former Upper Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif.

The same setting in recent times

Here's the same group — Wrench Rock, the Aztec and Two-Humper — in a recent photo taken from close to the same angle, but moving in a bit closer to Wrench Rock as the Reflecting Pool was dry at this time. The shot is taken in springtime when California's neon green is in full bloom.

This is the same recent photo with the main features highlighted

Wrench Rock was apparently originally called "Indian Head" until that name became associated by mistake with another rock, which was originally known as Tower Rock (and sometimes called the Pinnacle), located on the Lower Iverson. Tower Rock, later known as Indian Head (and often seen paired with another rock, properly known as Sphinx but often called Eagle Beak), became one of Iverson's most famous rocks, helped by an appearance in John Ford's 1939 epic "Stagecoach." My guess is that's one reason Wrench Rock ultimately started being called other things, including Upper Indian Head, which isn't exactly elegant. (But then, neither is Wrench Rock.)

I didn't help matters when I came along years later, unaware of any of the rock's existing names, and started calling it Bobby. But I've since come to my senses, and I think Wrench Rock is the least confusing name for it.

This post is part of a series on "Classic Rocks" — sandstone giants located on the former Iverson Movie Ranch in Chatsworth, Calif., that became a part of not only America's physical landscape but also its cultural heritage, through featured roles in old movies, cliffhanger serials and early TV shows. Other entries in the series can be seen by clicking here.

Saturday, February 27, 2010

Here are a couple of shots from early episodes of the "Lone Ranger" TV show (1949), also used in the 1952 movie version. The photo above provides sort of a concentrated glimpse at the combined heft of the major figures in Garden of the Gods on the Lower Iverson Movie Ranch — the Quintessentials, if you will. On the left are the Three Kings, including Tower Rock, or Indian Head, the tall figure just behind the Lone Ranger. To the right of Indian Head is a little glimpse of Pebblehead in the background. At right is a portion of the Sphinx, or Eagle Beak.

Another shot taken in the same area shows the rest of the Sphinx, aka Eagle Beak — including revealing the reason it's called the Sphinx — as it does bear some resemblance to the one in Egypt. To the right of Eagle Beak is the Phantom. Here's a more current look at the Phantom.

Monday, February 1, 2010

I recently posted photos of the southern end of Iverson Village (you can click here to see that post), and this is what the rest of the town looked like. The shot above is from the Gene Autry B-Western "The Hills of Utah." Note the stone buildings on both sides of the street — the Saloon on the left and the Livery Stable on the right. Most Western movie towns were made of wood, so the buildings' stone appearance helps distinguish Iverson Village.

A number of the town's main structures are identified in this version of the shot, along with Smooth Hill, a landmark that sat just north of the town. The consensus for years among film historians was that the main street was oriented more or less north and south, although comparing the positions of Gumdrop and Church Rock, the marker rocks at the southern end of town seen in the earlier post, gave rise to the idea that the street would have had to be positioned at an angle, leaning a bit southwest to northeast.

Aerial photo of Sheep Flats, 1952

This idea was confirmed after the above aerial photo surfaced from 1952, when the Western town was still in place. The town was located on a sprawling flat area known as Sheep Flats, which is now occupied by the Indian Hills Mobile Home Village.

"Check Your Guns" (1948) — Smooth Hill (before Casa Grande was built)

I searched at Iverson Ranch for months for the hill at the north end of town, which I began calling Smooth Hill. It eventually became apparent, even though I had a hard time believing it at first, that the hill was gone. It turns out the thing was basically leveled when the 118 freeway went through in the 1960s. Chunks along the southern edge of the hill were blown away to put the freeway through, and while they were at it they lopped off the top of it.

The former site of Smooth Hill as it appears today, now occupied by apartments and condos

The destruction of Smooth Hill cleared the way for what is now a batch of condos and a couple of large apartment buildings sitting on that spot, overlooking the freeway just above the Topanga interchange.

"Rocky Mountain Rangers" (1940) — Smooth Hill, before the town was built

Smooth Hill was a presence in movies even before the Western street was built, as in the above example from Republic's Three Mesquiteers Western "Rocky Mountain Rangers." Not only was the hill a key marker identifying Iverson Village in the old movies, but it was also kind of famous in its own right — and its loss is felt.

"Calamity Jane and the Texan" (1950)

This shot from the Columbia Western "Calamity Jane and the Texan" shows more of the eastern side of the street, and provides a look at Oat Mountain to the north — the series of hills with streaks of white, in the background. One of the markers on Oat Mountain, the Triangle Brand, is also visible, at the top of the photo, toward the left, partially hidden behind a small hill (Notch Hill).

Reel Cowboys of the Santa Susanas

I'm searching for information on the great cinematographers of the B-movie era

I want to honor the legacy of the cinematographers and other production people who worked in relative obscurity during the heyday of the B-Western and the Saturday matinee serial. If you have information about any DPs, directors, production managers or other behind-the-scenes people involved in making B-movies, serials or early TV shows from the silent era through the 1960s — especially those involved in location work and anyone who may have worked at the Iverson Movie Ranch — I would love to hear from you.

With the exception of the most high-profile figures from this period — movie stars and prominent directors, mainly — I have been able to dig up precious little information on the talented people who shaped our movie history and our culture through low-budget, independent productions. I think it would be tragic to allow their legacies to fade from memory while there are still people around — a few, anyway — who can tell their stories.

I would especially like to hear from the survivors — spouses, friends, co-workers, children, grandchildren and beyond — of those who played a role in making movies at Iverson, as well as anyone who is around who has his or her own memories of Iverson.

I have a special interest in cinematographers — the men who aimed their cameras at Iverson's dramatic rock formations, among other things, and thereby recorded the ranch's legacy for posterity. I hope to hear from anyone who might be able to help flesh out their biographical information and gain insights into what made them tick.

Here are some of the cinematographers I would like to find out more about:

Want to see more Iverson Movie Ranch photos? Click on the picture of Hawk Rock, below, to go to the Iverson Movie Ranch photo page on Flickr.

What's that photo at the top of the page?

The black-and-white photo used as the page header is a screen shot from "Fury at Showdown," a 1957 feature from Robert Goldstein Productions starring John Derek, John Smith and Carolyn Craig. The film's director is Gerd Oswald, with cinematography by Oscar winner Joseph LaShelle.

The gargoyle-like figure that looms above the rider is Wrench Rock, a favorite among fans of the Iverson Movie Ranch. In the early days of my Iverson research I called it Bobby, and that name still appears in some places. The rock was traditionally called Indian Head, which unfortunately is a name that has been given to a number of rocks at Iverson.

Wrench Rock is located on what was the Upper Iverson, in the heavily filmed South Rim area, and can still be seen there today, although its "best side" — the view seen at the top of this page — is now blocked by a tree.

The rock is also sometimes called Upper Indian Head to distinguish it from the well-known Indian Head located on the Lower Iverson, in Garden of the Gods.